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(SCIENTISTS.) KINSEY, ALFRED. Four Typed Letters Signed, "Alfred C. Kinsey," to painter Leon Kroll,

(SCIENTISTS.) KINSEY, ALFRED. Four Typed Letters Signed, "Alfred C. Kinsey," to painter Leon Kroll, thanking for allowing photographs to be made of his artworks, promising to send prints from the negatives, sending the prints [not present], and hoping to meet again after completing the book. Each 1 page, 4to, all but one on "Institute for Sex Research" stationery; folds, two with moderate toning along right edge. Bloomington, 1949-51

3 December 1949: ". . . I . . . want to assure you how delighted I was to see the magnificient [sic] things you have done.
"I look forward to the opportunity of seeing your material again . . . when we will work out the arrangements for getting negative prints of your work and the additional things you offer to let us copy.
". . . Because of your considerable contribution in art, you are able to contribute very uniquely to our study."
28 August 1951: "At last our photographer has made prints of the things which he photographed in your studio long ago. . . .
". . . It was thrilling to have this much contact with your work and I hope we may have a chance to get together again, on a future occasion."
20 September 1951: ". . . You may be sure that we will get in touch whenever we get to New York again. That may not be for some time hence for we are giving maximum time to working on our book here. . . ."
In 1942, Alfred Kinsey founded the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, the results of whose research is most widely known from two books, the first being Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, published in 1948. To assist in his research, Kinsey collected representations of sexuality and gender in print media of all sorts, as well as film, artworks, photographs, and other objects; Robert Mapplethorpe and Geroge Platt Lynes, for instance, had contributed erotic photographs whose subjects were nude males. The second book, published five years later, was titled Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, and it is likely Kroll's artworks depicting the female nude that Kinsey sought in these letters.

  • Provenance:

    3 December 1949: ". . . I . . . want to assure you how delighted I was to see the magnificient [sic] things you have done.
    "I look forward to the opportunity of seeing your material again . . . when we will work out the arrangements for getting negative prints of your work and the additional things you offer to let us copy.
    ". . . Because of your considerable contribution in art, you are able to contribute very uniquely to our study."
    28 August 1951: "At last our photographer has made prints of the things which he photographed in your studio long ago. . . .
    ". . . It was thrilling to have this much contact with your work and I hope we may have a chance to get together again, on a future occasion."
    20 September 1951: ". . . You may be sure that we will get in touch whenever we get to New York again. That may not be for some time hence for we are giving maximum time to working on our book here. . . ."
    In 1942, Alfred Kinsey founded the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, the results of whose research is most widely known from two books, the first being Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, published in 1948. To assist in his research, Kinsey collected representations of sexuality and gender in print media of all sorts, as well as film, artworks, photographs, and other objects; Robert Mapplethorpe and Geroge Platt Lynes, for instance, had contributed erotic photographs whose subjects were nude males. The second book, published five years later, was titled Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, and it is likely Kroll's artworks depicting the female nude that Kinsey sought in these letters.
  • Condition:
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April 10, 2025 12:00 PM EDT
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